So the weather here hasn't lived up to its name of "The Sunshine State" lately. But I can assure you it is still HOT and MUGGY! Be right back, kissing my air con..
...K. So with this horrible weather, I decided to make a yummy slow cooked meal. Unfortunately I smashed my slow cooker a few weeks ago. Plan B, oven roasted Irish Stew. Not boring, traditional stew. Delicious, herby, gravy-soaked stew. Something I have never made before, or even made anything close. But I am glad I took the risk. And I can't wait for another sodden weekend to make this again.
Let us begin. Pre-heat oven to 130 C
Base recipe:
- 1.25kg lamb neck chops
- 1/2 cup plain flour
- 3 brown onions, chopped
- 1kg sebago potatoes, peeled, sliced
- 2 carrots, peeled, thinly sliced into rounds
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 cups boiling water
- 3 beef stock cubes, crumbled
- 1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
- 1/4 cup mint leaves, chopped, to serve
My tweaked recipe:
- 1.5kg(ish) lamb neck chops
- 3/4 cup plain flour
- Salt & pepper
- 2 brown onions, chopped
- 1kg washed potatoes, chopped, skin on
- 2 carrots, peeled, sliced into chunks
- 2 Parsnips. peeled, sliced into chunks
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 cups boiling water
- 3 beef stock cubes, crumbled
- Decent splash of spicy Worcestershire sauce
- Squirt of BBQ sauce
- Rosemary
- A PINCH of Cumin
- About 6 cloves of garlic (I LOVE GARLIC)
- Dried Parsley
- 4 Bay leaves
Mmmm lamb neck chops!
Whack your flour into a freezer bag and season the heck out of it with salt and pepper. Don't be scared!
Add a couple of neck
chops at a time and shake-a-shake-a-shake until all lovely and dusted,
repeat until all of your neck chops are covered in seasoned flour. Do
NOT chuck the left over flour! We need this for the gravy!
Get all your veggies prepared. I left the skin on my potatoes for the whole rustic feel. And they taste good. That's what Food-Babies is all about.
So make sure you have a nice BIG dish.
Shout out to my Mumma Bear for the Scanpan dish!
Anyway, start layering your veggies up! Depending on the size of your dish you can do one layer or 2 or 5. Up to you! I did 2 layers of veggies and potato but only 1 of meat.
Pile in the taters
I had to really squish in my lamb to fit it all in
Another layer of veggies and taters and we are almost finished!
So chuck your left over flour in a bowl. Make sure it will hold at least a litre!
Add the rest of the ingredients (except bay leaves and mint) to your own taste.
I wanted a really rich gravy, heaps of herbs, and don't get me started
on garlic! I LOVE this stinky beast! Anyway, get a-mixing!
Pour the gravy all over your veggie/lamb stack, add a few bay leaves, stand back so you don't drool in the pan, and admire your work for a few seconds. Pat yourself on the back. You have earned it!
Chuck this baby in the oven for 4 hours.
Now, I recommend that you mix this baby up a few times while cooking. ESPECIALLY in the last hour. Otherwise your lamb may overcook a little, taters may burn, and the ones at the bottom may just be mush.
While this is cooking, let me teach you about my nickname... Cyclone Samantha..
Poor Mr Food-Babies nearly goes into a cold sweat when I spend more than 10 mins in the kitchen. I normally end up with food on the bench, floor, walls, roof, China... You get the idea. Mr Food-Babies even rates the Cyclonic force.
This mess I'd guess to be around a category 2. Not bad!
Ready for the final product?
Yep. It's ugly. But one of the most delicious meals I have eaten. EVER.
I heated up a french stick, smothered it in butter, and we dug in. Mr Food-Babies ate 3 times what I did.
On the Food-Babies scale?
I'm having octuplets. Twice.
BUT I did forget something VERY important! The fresh mint leaves over the top when I took it out of the oven! D'OH!
I think next time I will add mint sauce to the gravy....
